Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR)

Landstar reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.512 billion, up 25% from $1.205 billion a year earlier 1.

Earnings per share were $1.42 against $0.56, and the older figure was held down by non-cash impairment charges of $30.1 million 1.

Trucking drove the jump 1. Truck revenue rose 29% to $1.407 billion, because revenue per load rose about 25% while the number of loads rose about 3% 1.

Accident and claim costs ate into the gain 1. Insurance and claim costs were $55.3 million, against $33.0 million a year earlier, including about $13.0 million of adverse changes to the money set aside for claims 1.

The company held about $351 million of cash and short-term investments and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share 1.

Landstar stopped marketing its Mexican subsidiary, Landstar Metro, in 2026 and began winding it down, and said that work was substantially complete at the end of the third quarter 2.

Landstar was incorporated in January 1991 and has been publicly held since its initial public offering in March 1993 3. It sells freight shipping that independent sales agents arrange and trucks owned by other people haul, so it owns few trucks itself 3.

The pandemic stretch was the biggest in its history 6. Revenue for 2021 was $6,537,568,000, up 58% from 2020, which the company tied to record consumer demand for durable goods and e-commerce plus supply chain disruption 6.

Both price and volume rose 6. Revenue per load climbed about 29% and loads hauled about 23%, in what the company called an extremely tight truck capacity environment 6.

Revenue peaked in 2022 at $7,436,562,000, up 14% 6. Demand was at all-time high levels in the first quarter of 2022, then slowed as supply chain congestion eased 6.

The slide followed 5. Revenue for 2023 fell 29% to $5,303,322,000, with loads down about 17% and revenue per load down about 15% 5.

The company blamed soft freight demand and pricing pressure as truck capacity became easier to find than in 2022 5. Revenue for 2024 fell another 9% to $4,819,245,000, with loads down about 8% 5.

Revenue for 2025 was $4,743,760,000, down 2%, as loads fell about 1% and revenue per load stayed about the same 3.

Costs rose while sales slipped 3. Insurance and claims increased $45,507,000 in 2025, partly because earlier years' claims turned out worse by $23,258,000 than in 2024 3.

In 2025 the company also recorded non-cash impairment charges of $32,170,000 in total, covering Landstar Metro, a transportation management system it chose to wind down, and a stake in the start-up Cavnue 3.

Demand had first collapsed in the spring of 2020 as the pandemic hit, then rebuilt through the rest of that year and into the boom 6. The company called the rebound longer and greater than anything in its history 6.

The pool of outside trucks shrank with demand 3. Available truck capacity providers fell from 85,659 at the end of 2023 to 78,327 a year later and 70,502 at the end of 2025 3.

In a strategic review, the company decided Landstar Metro had not met its strategic or operational goals and hired a financial advisor to market it, as it told the SEC on 13 August 2025 3.

The agent network thinned with the freight cycle 3. Agents who each brought in at least $1 million of revenue numbered 524 in 2023, 485 in 2024 and 457 in 2025, when the average agent brought in $9,827,000 3.

Truck transportation

Trucking is the business 3. It contributed 91% of consolidated revenue in 2025, and revenue per load there was about $2,231 3.

Most of it is truckload freight 3. Van trailers (enclosed boxes) made up 54% of truck revenue in 2025 and unsided or platform trailers (flatbeds and drop decks) 35% 3.

In the third quarter of 2026 van revenue was $760 million and platform revenue $519 million, and revenue per load on platform freight was $4,039 against $3,132 a year earlier 12.

The company says more heavy and specialized loads, which pay more per load, lifted platform revenue per load in 2025 3.

Rail, air and ocean

Landstar also arranges rail intermodal moves (freight carried by train, with trucks at each end), air freight and ocean freight 3. Rail was 2% of revenue in 2025 and air and ocean together 5% 3.

Insurance segment

A small second segment, built around Signature Insurance Company, insures some risks of its truck owners and handles claims 3. It produced about 1% of revenue in 2025, with reinsurance premiums of $58,645,000 3.

How the network works

About 960 independent commission sales agents find the freight, and over 70,000 outside capacity providers, mostly truck owners, haul it 3. Landstar's operating subsidiaries sign the customer contracts and carry the credit risk 3.

Two kinds of truck provider matter 3. Independent contractors leasing trucks to Landstar supplied 38% of 2025 revenue and brokerage carriers 53%; there were 7,712 contractors and 8,514 trucks at year end 3.

The agents are concentrated 3. In 2025 the 457 agents with $1 million or more of revenue produced 95% of revenue, and 77 agencies above $10 million produced about 68% 3.

Places and people

Landstar's main facilities are in Jacksonville, Florida, which is also its headquarters, and Rockford, Illinois, and it keeps a freight staging site in Laredo, Texas; all three are owned 3.

Frank Lonegro is president and chief executive 1. James Todd is chief financial officer 8.

William Clement became chief commercial officer on 1 August 2026 after about 8 years at trucking company CRST, and Matthew Dannegger moves to an advisor role until 1 March 2027 8.

The general counsel since 2005, Michael Kneller, left on 8 May 2026 and Vallie Dugas became interim general counsel 7.

It employed 1,378 people at the end of 2025, and US and Canadian staff turnover was 11% 3.

Rivals

Landstar competes with truckload carriers, third party logistics companies, digital freight brokers, railroads and other asset-light logistics firms in an industry it calls extremely competitive and fragmented 3.

Current problems

Accident claims are the standing worry 3. Landstar keeps liability for trucking claims up to $5 million per occurrence, and the company warns that very large jury awards, called nuclear verdicts, could hurt results 3.

A supply chain fraud in its international freight forwarding work, found in early 2025, cost $4.8 million in other operating costs that year 3.

The second largest agency by 2025 revenue has big administrative operations in Ukraine, which the war continues to disrupt 3.

The umbrella, in words

The listed parent, Landstar System, Inc., owns 100% of Landstar System Holdings, Inc., which holds the operating companies 4. These include Landstar Ranger, Inway, Ligon, Gemini (less-than-truckload), Global Logistics and Express America 4.

Signature Insurance Company, in the Cayman Islands, and Landstar Canada, Inc. in Ontario are wholly owned too 4. So is Landstar Metro in Mexico, now being wound down 42.

Landstar invested in Cavnue, LLC, a privately held technology start-up, in 2022, and in 2025 wrote down the carrying value of that stake by $4,999,000 3.

Its credit agreement counts it as a default if a person or group acquires 35% or more of the stock 2.

The company said its board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, payable on 8 December 2026 to holders of record on 17 November 2026 1. It added that the board intends to keep paying quarterly 1.

Landstar is authorized to buy back up to 882,550 more shares under its share purchase program 1. In the year to 26 September 2026 it bought 383,568 shares for about $64.0 million 1.

A new credit agreement dated 30 June 2026 gives a $300 million revolving credit line to 30 June 2031, with room to add $500 million 9. Nothing was borrowed under it at 26 September 2026 2.

The company does not expect further charges from winding down Landstar Metro, though it gives no assurance 2.

Management changes are scheduled 8. Jim Applegate moves to chief strategy and transformation officer, and Matthew Dannegger leaves on 1 March 2027 8. The fiscal year ends on 26 December 2026 2.

Management says future revenue growth depends mainly on raising the revenue of its largest agents and on adding more of them 3. It plans to do that by recruiting agents, widening what existing agents can sell and giving them digital tools 3.

The company also moved its third party insurance policy year to start on 1 June from 2026 3.

The buyback programs have no set expiry, and the company does not expect closing Landstar Metro to hurt its US and Mexico cross-border service 2.

The company's agent network stays its stated focus: it said recruiting new agents and giving existing ones more to sell are the means of growth 3. Its annual strategic review is the process that led to the Landstar Metro decision 3.

A new accounting rule on expense disclosure (ASU 2024-03) applies to annual periods starting after 15 December 2026, and the company does not expect it to change results or financial condition 2.